Gatling
The Gatling, a Hand-Held Minigun, is an extremely powerful automatic weapon that appears in Metro Last Light. It uses a spring mechanism that the player needs to wind up to fire the 12.7x108mm rounds. Because of the high value of 12.7x108mm rounds, firing full auto will be incredibly expensive and should be used only in extreme danger. Overview This weapon is first seen in the campaign when caught by Andrew the Blacksmith at the end of the Revolution level. However, it is only available to the player in the last few minutes of the game, where the Rangers make their final stand. Artyom can use this weapon to easily mow down the attacking Red Line troops with 500 rounds to use, likely the majority of the Ranger's stockpile as once the ammunition belt is used up, the gun cannot be reloaded and Artyom has to kill the remaining Reds with his other weapons. The weapon will lose accuracy if you fire fully automatically - a single bullet fired from the Gatling will do a lot of damage, so ensure sure you make them count - keep the barrels rotating at all times so you can fire quickly. It is unknown why the Rangers use a makeshift Gatling when a DShK 12.7mm Machinegun would fire the same ammo and probably do the job just as well, if not better as it would have been made before the war. The Rangers are not the only group to have a Gatling, as the Fourth Reich use one during their defense of the Frontline in the mission Heavy Squad. Their best shock trooper, Hans, uses this to great effect against invading Red Line troops. However, Hans' minigun is slightly different to the Ranger's, namely the fact that the Reich minigun has five rotating barrels, as opposed to three, to aid in cooling and increasing rate of fire, an engine as opposed to the chain operated system in the Ranger's, meaning the barrels can be spun constantly, and a support stock to reduce recoil. This makes it a fearsome weapon to mow down the enemy with. It also can be reloaded with a box magazine containing 500 rounds in a disintegrating ammunition belt, showing that the Reich probably have more stockpiles of the 12.7x108mm available. One of the Reds Hans fights against carries a Gatling as well, though it is unknown what type/attachments he has. The Gatling has an insane recoil and can easily make your gun climb up, a way to cope with this trait is to fire in no more than 3 seconds, aim at the ground in front of your target so when the gun climbs, the bullets can find their mark, this can come in handy in medium ranges, where your foes will start shooting. The Nazi version of the Gatling is also capable of destroying tanks, which rangers rely on Preved. The Gatling appears in the last stage of The Tower Pack, where it is invaluable tool to fend of not only hordes of nosalises, but librarians as well. The Gatling is also seen in the Developer Pack at the Shooting Gallery and AI Arena with all attachments available. Attachments *Five-barrel assembly - increases the weapon's rate of fire without additional wear *Gatling stabiliser - this makes the Gatling easier to control while spinning the barrels and firing *Gatling engine - replaces the spring-operated spin-up mechanism, so you can spin the barrel indefinitely *Gatling support - a stock (though it rest on the users stomach) used to reduce recoil Related Achievements Trivia *In real life, a Gatling, even a smaller one and especially a 12.7x108mm one, would be very difficult to use without the use of special equipment or mounted on vehicles. Should it be even feasible to use, it would be so unwieldy for someone such as Artyom or even Hans that targets would be difficult to hit. At the very least, both characters should have a sling to support the weapon, as they would be unable to raise the barrel for that long without. *The only known East-block 12.7 mm Gatling gun similar to the Minigun is the YakB-12,7, which has four barrels instead of three or five. The Yak-B-12.7 is the primary armament of Mil Mi-24 Hind attack helicopter. *Before Metro: Last Light was released, the Gatling could be seen outside of D6. It was shown to be found in a Reich outpost during Gameplay Trailer 1, and again in the full 12-minute gameplay video, along with a Helsing, while Artyom is battling a large mutant. It also seemed the Gatling needed to be charged as it shows Artyom using a handle which fills the guage that can be colored green from yellow to red. *When left idle, Artyom will pull the handle back and forth. *Killing an enemy with Gatling causes large cloud of blood, understandable given the large calibre round exiting their body. *One of the Reich soldiers in the Faction Pack's Heavy Squad mission refers to the Gatling as the "pepperbox". *It appears that the default Gatling uses a clockwork-spring mechanism to spin the barrels to full firing speed. With attachments, this can be changed: **In the Faction Pack, Hans' Gatling has a small engine to spin the barrels indefinitely (or at least until the fuel runs out, though it will not in game). **In the Tower Pack, the Captain must crank the handle at the breech in between firefights to maintain its astounding fire rates. **In the Developer Pack, both mechanisms are used, depending on the attachments selected. *In real life, a Gatling would not need the barrels to reach a certain momentum to fire. The second a barrel moves into the firing position, the barrel would fire - however, it has become a video game cliche for Gatlings and Miniguns to spool up before they fire, so it is possible this is why it is included. *Although the stock on the Gatling might seem trivial compared to its massive bulk, it actually has some practical use - the stock could be used as a counter weight to help balance the Gatling, and can also be braced to the side of the body to hold the weapon during firing. *Although a DShK might seem like a better choice for a machinegun, the Gatling does have some advantages: the Gatling can be used as a psychological weapon due to the number of barrels and high rate of fire; the gatling has a higher rate of fire compared to a DShK; the Gatling may possibly be lighter then a DShK. *There is a humerous glitch in the Developer Pack that removes all the barrels of the Gatling when you take off the five-barrel modification. Gallery MLL Minigun.jpg|The Minigun as used in Metro Last Light 006eb37d01.png|Concept art MLL faction pack 004.jpg|The Minigun as seen in use by the Nazi Heavy in the Faction Pack, upgraded with two extra barrels (possibly a measure to prevent overheating like the Bastard's barrel shroud) MLL Fac Pack.jpg|Ditto 2013-08-02 00001.jpg|Ditto BS1-0FKCYAEY9oe.jpg|A mini-gun in the Tower Pack DLC. It shares the same model as the one Hans used. D6 Icon.png|Icon of the Rangers unmodified Gatling as it appears in D6 Reich Icon.png|The customised Gatling used by Hans in the Reich Heavy mission. Note the gatling engine and gatling support upgrades Tower Icon.png|The Gatling available to the captain in the Tower finale. Upgraded with a five barrel assembly, and gatling support, it is invaluable against the nosalis horde. Category:Weapons Category:Tower Pack DLC Category:Developer Pack DLC